Ex-Railways Minister And Congressman Jaffer Sharief Dies At 85

On Sunday (25 November), another Karnataka Congress leader, apart from actor Ambareesh, passed away. Former railways minister Challakere Kareem Jaffer Sharief breathed his last at the age of 85. A staunch loyalist of the Gandhi dynasty, he is one of those who ‘informed’ then prime minister Indira Gandhi about the factionalism within the Congress party in the state, after which he was ‘duly’ rewarded.

Born in 1933 in Chitradurga, he went on to work as Minister of Railways from 1991-95 in the government led by P V Narasimha Rao. As the minister, he is credited to have carried out the metre-gauge-to-broad-gauge conversion of railway lines. From 1977, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Bangalore North constituency until 1996, when he decided to skip the elections.

Hailing from a poor family, he went on to become one of the most notable figures in the Karnataka Congress and a major Muslim face of the party. A close associate of Indira Gandhi, he promptly informed her of S Nijalingappa’s efforts to split the party.

His last election was from Bangalore North in 2009, and it ended up in a defeat as the seat went to the BJP. His dream of becoming chief minister could not been realised, Deccan Herald reported.